April 15, 2011
New York

Hopkinton Town Council may face concerns over wind power at Monday meeting

North Country This Week, northcountrynow.com 14 April 2011North Country This Week, northcountrynow.com 14 April 2011

HOPKINTON – The Hopkinton Town Council will likely face some questions from people concerned about wind power at its next regular meeting Monday night.

Following a public meeting in Parishville three weeks ago hosted by wind power producer Iberdrola Renewables, interest and concern have grown over the company’s proposal to erect 476-foot windmills in Parishville and Hopkinton to make power they would sell to National Grid.

In an email message, one citizen who identified himself only as Tim said he would urge residents concerned with the project to attend the Hopkinton town board meeting Monday at 7 p.m.

He said he wants to find out, and believes others would also like to know, “what stage we are at, status of a ‘wind commitee,’ information on our new law for wind development. And assurance that the town council is operating with care and concern for all its residents, not just a few. We do not want this town to be consumed by electrickery. We want all people concerned to have a united front.”

Iberdrola, the world’s largest renewable power generation company, already has signed landowner leases on dozens of sites in Parishville and Hopkinton, and has two towers with weather instruments on them in the vicinity to get an accurate measure of the potential for wind generation of electric power.

Iberdrola says that no firm decision on the project will be made until they have a year’s worth of weather data, which they expect by November.

The Spain-based company says that in a typical deal with a landowner., they would pay between $8,000 and $10,000 per year for each turbine.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/04/15/hopkinton-town-council-may-face-concerns-over-wind-power-at-monday-meeting/